Image forming apparatus

Description

[0001] This invention relates to an image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic process, and more particularly to a cleanerless image forming apparatus that causes a developing device to recover the residual toner remaining on the photosensitive member after transfer without using a cleaning device.

[0002] An image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic process as shown in FIG. 1 has been proposed. As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus has a photosensitive member 1 that holds electrostatic latent images, around which the following devices are arranged in the direction in which the photosensitive member 1 rotates. Specifically, the image forming apparatus comprises: a brush charging device 2 that charges the surface of the photosensitive member 1 at a specific potential uniformly; a light beam 3 that exposes the surface of the charged photosensitive member to form an electrostatic latent image; a developing device 5 that forces toner 4 to stick to the electrostatic latent image formed by the light beam 3 to develop the latent image, forming a toner image; a transfer device 7 that transfers the toner image formed by the developing device 5 onto recording paper 6, a transfer material; a cleaning device 8 that causes a cleaning blade 8a to scrape off the residual toner 4a remaining on the surface of the photosensitive member after the transfer by the transfer device 7; and a destaticizing lamp 9 that destaticizes the surface of the photosensitive member.

[0003] With this type of image forming apparatus, the residual toner 4a remaining on the surface of the photosensitive member after the transfer has adverse effect on a subsequent image formation unless the residual toner is removed, so that the cleaning device 8 is used to remove the residual toner 4a.

[0004] When the cleaning device 8 is applied to, for example, an inorganic photosensitive member whose surface hardness is relatively high, such as selenium series or amorphous silicon, it achieves an excellent residual-toner removing function. With the cleaning device 8, however, it is difficult to remove the deposits on the surface of the photosensitive member, such as fine paper powder, precipitates (e.g., talc) from paper, toner deposits, filmed toner, products of discharging, such as products of corona, at the charging device, or the degraded layer where the properties of part of the surface of the photosensitive member deteriorates.

[0005] Such deposits, especially paper powder and products of discharging, absorb moisture at high humidity and present low resistance, which seriously disturbs the electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the photosensitive member, degrading the picture quality.

[0006] To avoid these disadvantages, a cleaning device which includes not only a residual toner removal cleaning device but also a deposit removal cleaning brush that removes deposits other than the toner existing on the surface of the photosensitive member has been disclosed in, for example, Jpn. UM Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 64-36867 or Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 1-295289.

[0007] Furthermore, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 59-111673 and Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 63-129380 have disclosed a cleaning device that is used with a residual toner removal cleaning device and forces a grind cleaning roller formed of an elastic material, such as silicone rubber or urethane foam, to scrape the photosensitive member, thereby removing not only the deposits but also the degraded layer at the surface of the photosensitive member by the grinding effect.

[0008] The grind cleaning roller, being pressed strongly against the photosensitive member, removes the deposits and the degraded layer. At the same time, however, the strongly pressed contact causes the surface of the photosensitive member to be scraped too much or irregularly, resulting in deterioration of the picture quality. It can also shorten the service life of the photosensitive member.

[0009] To overcome these drawbacks, in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 59-111673, the grind cleaning roller is provided so that it may come into contact with and separate from the surface of the photosensitive member. The grind cleaning roller is pressed against and grinds the surface of the photosensitive member each time, for example, 2000 sheets of paper have been printed out, thereby removing the deposits and the degraded layer, while preventing the surface of the photosensitive member to be overscraped. Since deterioration of the picture quality due to the deposits and the degraded layer results from the accumulation of the deposits and the degraded layer, it has no direct effect on the image formed in subsequent processes, unlike the residual toner. Therefore, the deposits and degraded layer need not be removed successively. An apparatus with a grind cleaning roller that can come into contact and separate from the photosensitive member, requires a cleaning roller separating and contacting mechanism, making the apparatus more complicated and larger.

[0010] Organic photosensitive materials have been used widely as photosensitive members. Since organic photosensitive members have a low surface hardness, just the pressure contact of the elastic blade causes the surface of the photosensitive member to be ground sufficiently, removing the deposits and the degraded layer, in the cleaning device, with the result that a grind cleaning roller need not be provided.

[0011] In the case of organic photosensitive members, however, their photosensitive layer wears seriously even with a residual toner removal cleaning device alone, resulting in deterioration of the picture quality and a shortened life of the photosensitive member due to the overscraping or irregular scraping of the photosensitive member.

[0012] In contrast, a cleanerless image forming apparatus that recovers the residual toner by the developing device without using a residual toner removal cleaning device has been disclosed in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 3-127086. As shown in FIG. 2, around a photosensitive member 1, the image forming apparatus has a brush charging device 2, a light beam 3, a developing device 5, a transfer device 7, a destaticizing lamp 10, and a conductive brush 11 that makes the residual toner uniform.

[0013] In an inverted development method using the toner 4 charged in the same polarity as that of the photosensitive member 1, toner particles 4 are forced to stick to the image portion (the portion of the surface of the photosensitive member where no charge exists or where the amount of charges is small) that has been exposed by the light beam 3, whereas no toner 4 is caused to stick to the non-image portion (the portion of the surface of the photosensitive member where the amount of charges is large) that has not been exposed by the light beam 3.

[0014] To realize such selective toner adhesion, a voltage of Vb (|Vr| < |Vb| < |Vo|) between the potential Vo of the non-image portion at the surface of the photosensitive member and the potential Vr of the image portion is applied to a developing roller 12 of the developing device 5. The electric field between the non-image portion and the developing roller 12 suppresses the adhesion of toner to the photosensitive member 1, whereas the electric field between the image portion and the developing roller 12 causes the toner to adhere to the photosensitive member 1.

[0015] The toner 4 stuck to the photosensitive member 1 is transferred to the recording paper 6 by the transfer device 7. After the transfer, the residual toner 4a remaining on the surface of the photosensitive member 1 without being transferred to the recording paper 6 distributes itself in the image portion.

[0016] After destaticization by the destaticizing lamp 10, when the residual toner 4a distributed in the image portion on the photosensitive member 1 passes under the conductive brush 11, the residual toner 4a is sucked by the conductive brush 11 by setting the electric field formed by the voltage applied to the conductive brush 11, the photosensitive member surface potential, and the residual toner 4a at a specific value. Furthermore, by setting the electric field formed by the voltage applied to the conductive brush 11, the photosensitive member surface potential., and the residual toner 4a at the specific value, the residual toner 4a on the conductive brush 11 are released by electrostatic force into the non-image portion on the photosensitive member 1 or a portion where the photosensitive member 1 is not in contact with the recording paper 6. As described above, control of the voltage applied to the conductive brush 11 disturbs the distribution of the residual toner 4a, making it possible to distribute the residual toner 4a uniformly all over the photosensitive member 1.

[0017] The residual toner thus uniformed distributes itself almost in isolation, not in a lump, so that it does not disturb the charging action in the charging process in the brush charging device 2, which enables the photosensitive member 1 to be charged uniformly. At this time, the residual toner 4a is also charged in the same polarity as that of the photosensitive member 1. In addition, in exposure by the light beam 3, the residual toner 4a remaining on the photosensitive member 1 does not shade the light beam 3, so that the effect of the preceding image has no effect on the formation of an electrostatic latent image in the next stage, preventing a memory phenomenon (what is called a ghost phenomenon) from occurring.

[0018] The residual toner 4a is recovered again into the developing device 5 at the same time that the electrostatic latent image is developed in the developing process. Specifically, because the residual toner 4a existing in the non-image portion of the latent image formed by the exposure of the light beam 3 is charged by the charging device 2 in the same polarity as that of the photosensitive member 1, the electric field (i.e., the electric field caused by the potential difference between Vo and Vb) that tends to transfer the residual toner from the photosensitive member 1 to the developing roller 12 side, causes the residual toner 4a to transfer to the developing roller 12 side. That is, the photosensitive member undergoes cleaning.

[0019] At the same time, the residual toner 4a remaining in the image portion receives the force going from the developing roller 12 toward the photosensitive member 1 and remains on the surface of the photosensitive member 1. Onto the image portion, new toner 4 is transferred further from the developing roller 12. That is, the latent image is developed.

[0020] As described above, development and cleaning are carried out simultaneously.

[0021] Such a cleanerless image forming apparatus needs no residual toner removal cleaning device, so that the photosensitive member is not scraped by a cleaning device, making smaller the amount of wear of the photosensitive member and lengthening the service life of the organic photosensitive member.

[0022] With the cleanerless image forming apparatus, however, since the cleaning device does not scrape the photosensitive member, it is difficult to remove the deposits on the surface of the photosensitive member, such as fine paper powder, the precipitates (e.g., talc) from paper, toner deposits, filmed toner, products of discharging, such as products of corona, or the degraded layer at the surface of the photosensitive member.

[0023] As described above, with the cleanerless image forming apparatus, its service life is determined by the accumulation of the deposits and degraded layer at the surface of the photosensitive member rather than by wear of the photosensitive member.

[0024] Furthermore, the cleanerless image forming apparatus uses a brush charging device 2 to suppress the generation of ozone, which degrades the photosensitive member. When a negative contact-type charging device 2 is used by using a negatively charged photosensitive member as the photosensitive member 1, the charging device 2 generates almost no ozone.

[0025] In addition, when a positive corona charger is used as the transfer device 7, the corona charger (the transfer device 7) generates much a smaller amount of ozone than a negative corona charger, reducing the amount of ozone generated on the whole.

[0026] Use of the brush charging device 2, however, permits aerial discharge to take place very close to the surface of the photosensitive member, causing a large amount of products of discharging to adhere to the surface of the photosensitive member.
Furthermore, hygroscopic material, such as fine paper powder or talc, is liable to stick to the brush charging device 2. Such a material transfers to the surface of the photosensitive member easily.

[0027] Then, at high humidity, products of discharging or hygroscopic material absorb moisture, adhere firmly to the surface of the photosensitive member, and present low resistance. As a result, this disturbs the electrostatic latent image seriously, resulting in defective images, such as image drift or a white missing portion in the image.

[0028] Accordingly, the object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of preventing the picture quality from deteriorating.

[0029] The foregoing object is accomplished by providing an image forming apparatus according to claim 1.

[0030] The closest image forming apparatus according to US-A-5 438 397 does not achieve the goal of the present invention because it lacks the essential feature of Vf3 which is configured to forcibly release charged toner of varying polarity and amount from the conductive scraping member onto the image holding member.

[0031] This invention can be more fully understood from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a rough configuration of an image forming apparatus with a conventional residual toner removal cleaning device;

FIG. 2 shows a rough configuration of a conventional cleanerless image forming apparatus;

FIG. 3 shows a rough configuration of a cleanerless image forming apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a pictorial diagram to help explain the action of suppressing the adhesion of the residual toner to the scraping sponge roller in the first embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a pictorial diagram to help explain the action of forcing the residual toner to be released to the photosensitive member in the first embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a pictorial diagram to help explain the action of forcing the residual toner to be released to the photosensitive member in the first embodiment;

FIG. 7 shows a rough configuration of a cleanerless image forming apparatus according to a second example of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a pictorial diagram to help explain the action of sucking and releasing toner in a scraping and equalizing device in the second example;

FIG. 9 is a pictorial diagram to help explain the action of forcing toner to be released in the scraping and equalizing device in the second example;

FIG. 10 shows a rough configuration of a cleanerless image forming apparatus according to a third example of the present invention;

[0032] Hereinafter, referring to the accompanying drawings, embodiments of the present invention will be explained.

[0033] As shown in FIG. 3, a scraping device formed of a conductive member is used. Specifically, a conductivity rotary scraping sponge roller 44 is used as a scraping device. To the conductivity rotary scraping sponge roller 44, a negative direct voltage of Vf1, a positive direct voltage of Vf2, and an alternating-current voltage of Vf3 can be selectively applied by means of a selector switch 45.

[0034] A conductive member used for the conductive rotary scraping sponge roller 44 may be, for example, brush fiber made of conductive rayon or conductive nylon, conductive urethane sponge, conductive urethane sponge impregnated with abrasive, conductive urethane rubber, conductive silicone rubber, or a roller having a conductive or semiconductive urethane or Teflon surface layer provided on its surface made of the above material. These conductive brush fiber, sponge, and rubber have a volume resistivity of 10² to 10¹⁰ Ω·cm, preferably 10³ to 10⁶ Ω·cm. The configuration, contact conditions, scraping conditions of these conductive scraping devices are the same as those in the aforementioned embodiments.

[0035] The applied voltages Vf1, Vf2, and Vf3 are set so that an electric field lower than the discharging start electric field with respect to the photosensitive member 21, for example, a direct-current and alternating-current electric fields of about ±500V or below, may be formed. The reason for this is that in an electric field equal to or higher than the discharging start electric field, products of discharging harmful to the formation of images will be generated at the conductive member.

[0036] A concrete voltage applying method is such that, for example, when a negatively charged organic photosensitive member is used as the photosensitive member 21 and negatively charged toner is used as the toner 24, a direct-current voltage of -400V (Vfl: adhesion suppressing voltage) is applied to the conductive rotary scraping sponge roller 44. The potential and the force acting on the toner are shown pictorially in FIG. 4.

[0037] Specifically, if the surface potential of the photosensitive member 21 after passing under the destaticizing lamp 28 is about -50V, the negatively charged residual toner 24a receives electrostatic force at the scraping position of the scraping sponge roller 44 in the direction in which the toner moves from the scraping sponge roller 44 to the surface of the photosensitive member 21, which suppresses the adhesion of the residual toner 24a to the scraping sponge roller 44, making it easy for the residual toner 24a to pass through.

[0038] Even if the adhesion suppressing voltage Vf1 is applied to make it difficult for the residual toner 24a to stick to the scraping sponge roller 44, a small amount of oppositely charged (positively charged) toner contained in the residual toner 24a will stick to the scraping sponge roller 44 by electrostatic force in the period of image formation as shown in FIG. 5. When a lot of images are formed, the positively charged (oppositely charged) toner accumulates on the scraping sponge roller 44 gradually.

[0039] To overcome this problem, with the timing of the leading or trailing edge of a sheet of recording paper 26 or the space between a sheet of recording paper 26 and the following one on the photosensitive member 21 arrives at the scraping position of the scraping sponge roller 44, that is, in the non-image formation period shown in FIG, 5, the selector switch 45 is switched to apply a forced release voltage Vf2 to the scraping sponge roller 44, which forces the oppositely charged toner accumulated on the scraping sponge roller 44 to be released onto the photosensitive member 21, thereby preventing the residual toner from accumulating on the scraping sponge roller 44 during the averaged time interval. Because no image is formed in the space between sheets of recording paper, almost no residual toner 24a after transfer exists.

[0040] Specifically, a direct-current voltage of +400V is applied to the scraping sponge roller 44 as the forced release voltage Vf2. If the surface potential of the photosensitive member 21 after passing under the destaticizing lamp 28 is about -100V, the negatively charged (oppositely charged) toner receives strong electrostatic force at the scraping position of the scraping sponge roller 44 in the direction in which the toner moves from the scraping sponge roller 44 to the surface of the photosensitive member, which forces the oppositely charged (positively charged) toner on the scraping sponge roller 44 to be released into the space between sheets of recording paper on the surface of the photosensitive member 21. The action of forcing toner to be released prevents the residual toner from accumulating on the scraping sponge roller 44 during the averaged time interval. Then, the released residual toner 24a is charged by the charging device 22 in the same polarity as that of the photosensitive member 21 and thereafter the residual toner 24a in the unexposed portion is recovered by the developing roller 33 of the developing device 25.

[0041] When the amount of transfer residual toner is very small and most of the residual toner is oppositely charged toner {e.g., spherical toner obtained by a polymerization method is used), an adhesion suppressing voltage Vf1 of +400V is applied and a forced release voltage Vf2 of -400V is applied, which is the reversal of what has been described just above.

[0042] When the polarity and amount of charges of the toner accumulated on the scraping sponge roller 44 vary, depending on the frictional charging, charge injection, and discharging, an alternating-current forced release voltage Vf3 is applied to the scraping sponge roller 44 during the non-image formation period. This forces the residual toner accumulated on the scraping sponge roller 44 to be released and prevents the residual toner from accumulating on the scraping sponge roller 44 during the averaged time interval.

[0043] Specifically, an alternating-current voltage with a peak difference of 800V (-400V to +400V) and a frequency of 200 Hz is applied. The potential at this time and the force acting on the toner are pictorially shown in the non-image formation period of FIG. 6. With the surface potential of the photosensitive member 21 after passing under the destaticizing lamp 28 being about -100V, when the scraping sponge roller 44 is applied with a positive voltage at the scraping position of the scraping sponge roller 44, the residual toner 24a positively charged by electrostatic force is caused to be released from the scraping sponge roller 44 to the photosensitive member surface. When the scraping sponge roller 44 is applied with a negative voltage, the residual toner 24a negatively charged by electrostatic force is caused to be released from the scraping sponge roller 44 to the photosensitive member surface.

[0044] The value of the voltage applied to the scraping sponge roller 44 is set so that the electric field caused by the voltage and the photosensitive member surface may control the force acting on the toner. For example, in a case where a negatively charged organic photosensitive member and negatively charged toner are used, when the surface potential of the photosensitive member 21 after passing under the destaticizing lamp 28 is about +500V (e.g., when the photosensitive member is forced to be positively charged by the transfer device), the adhesion suppressing voltage applied to the scraping sponge roller 44 is in the range of 0V to +100V. Under this condition, the negatively charged residual toner receives electrostatic force in the direction in which it moves from the scraping sponge roller 44 to the photosensitive member surface, thereby suppressing the adhesion of the residual toner 24a to the scraping sponge roller 44.

[0045] Therefore, the negatively charged residual toner does not necessarily require a negative adhesion suppressing voltage. The value of the voltage should be determined by the relative electric field relationship between the photosensitive member surface potential and the amount of charges of toner. This holds true for the forced release voltage.

[0046] As described above, with the suppression of the adhesion of the residual toner 24a and the forced release of the residual toner 24a by voltage application, when the contact depth of the scraping sponge roller 44 to the photosensitive member 21 is made greater to improve the scraping capability, this makes the adhesive force of the residual toner 24a larger and increases the amount of toner recovered. It is possible to keep a balance by making the adhesion suppressing voltage Vf1 and regulated release voltages Vf2, Vf3 larger to make the adhesion suppressing force larger and increase the amount of forced release.

[0047] Because the passage of the residual toner 24a can be controlled by the applied voltage conditions independently of the conditions for removing the deposits and degraded layer, including the contact depth, rotation direction, and rotation speed of the scraping sponge roller 44, when a nonconductive photosensitive member is used, the photosensitive member surface can be refreshed at the necessary minimum amount of wear of the photosensitive member by the rolling friction of toner particles as a result of the residual toner passing through, even under such relatively strong pressure contact conditions as the residual toner are stuck and recovered. Therefore, even with a conductive scraping device, such as brush fiber or a foamed member, it is possible to press the scraping device against the photosensitive member surface with high pressure reliably.

[0048] As described above, use of a conductive scraping device such as the conductive rotary scraping sponge roller 44, prevents the residual toner from accumulating on the scraping device even after many images have been formed, because of the effects of the residual toner adhesion suppressing voltage and residual toner forced release voltage as well as the effects obtained from the aforementioned embodiments. This makes the service life of the scraping device longer, making it possible to provide good images for a long time stably. In addition, since the suppression of the adhesion of the residual toner and the forced release of the residual toner enables the passage of the residual toner to be controlled by the applied voltage conditions, independently of the conditions for removing the deposits and degraded layer in the conductive scraping device, the range where the refreshing of the photosensitive member surface and the average time passage of the residual toner are compatible with each other can be made much wider.

[0049] Therefore, it is possible to give a relatively large leeway to the scraping conditions, which not only enables the device to cope with various types of toner and photosensitive member but also makes the accuracy of device components and the assembly accuracy less strict, providing very favorable conditions in terms of productivity and manufacturing cost. If toner were left accumulated on the conductive scraping device, it would be waste toner. The conductive scraping device used here, however, does not allow the residual toner to accumulate, but releases it, so that the residual toner can be recovered efficiently at the developing device without producing waste toner.

[0050] Next, an image forming apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be explained.

[0051] As shown in FIG. 7, the equalizing device 29 also serves as a scraping device. There is provided a scraping and equalizing device 46 formed of a conductive rotary sponge roller as an equalizing device. A scraping device is eliminated. A positive equalizing voltage Vu1, a negative equalizing voltage Vu2, and an alternating-current equalizing voltage Vu3 are selectively applied via a selector switch 47 to the scraping and equalizing device 46. In addition to the conductive rotary sponge roller, a conductive scraping blade, a conductive rotary scraping roller, a conductive fixed scraping brush, a conductive rotary scraping brush, or a conductive fixed scraping sponge blade may be used as the scraping and equalizing device 46. The contact conditions and scraping conditions for the scraping and equalizing device 46 with respect to the photosensitive member 21 are the same as those for the individual scraping devices used in the corresponding embodiments.

[0052] The applied voltages Vu1, Vu2, and Vu3 are set so that an electric field lower than the discharging start electric field with respect to the photosensitive member 21, for example, a direct-current and alternating-current electric fields of about ±500V or below may be formed. The reason for this is that in an electric field equal to or higher than the discharging start electric field, products of discharging harmful to the formation of images will be generated at the conductive member.

[0053] A concrete voltage applying method is such that, for example, when a negatively charged organic photosensitive member is used as the photosensitive member 21 and negatively charged toner is used as the toner 24, a direct-current voltage of +400V (Vu1: sucking voltage) is applied to the scraping and equalizing device 46. The potential and the force acting on the toner are shown pictorially in FIG. 8.

[0054] Specifically, if the surface potential of the image portion (exposed portion) of the photosensitive member 21 after passing under the destaticizing lamp 28 is about -50V, the negatively charged residual toner 24a receives electrostatic force at the scraping position of the scraping and equalizing device 46 in the direction in which the toner moves from the surface of the photosensitive member 21 to the scraping and equalizing device 46, which causes the residual toner 24a distributed in the image area to be sucked and recovered by the scraping and equalizing device 46. The toner sucking action reduces the amount of residual toner 24a existing in the image portion.

[0055] Some of the negatively charged toner caught by the scraping and equalizing device 46 is oppositely charged (positively charged) as a result of frictional charging, charge injection, or discharging. If the surface potential of the background portion (unexposed portion) of the photosensitive member 21 after passing under the destaticizing lamp 28 is about -100V, the positively charged residual toner 24a receives electrostatic force in the direction in which the toner moves from the scraping and equalizing device 46 to the surface of the photosensitive member 21 at the scraping position of the scraping and equalizing device 46, which causes the positively charge toner on the scraping and equalizing device 46 to be released to the non-image portion on the photosensitive member surface. The toner releasing action causes a small amount of residual toner 24a to stick to the background portion uniformly.

[0056] The residual toner sucking and releasing action equalizes the distribution of the residual toner on the photosensitive member to the extent that it has no effect on the charging and exposing processes. Furthermore, it achieves the equalization of the residual toner image necessary for the cleanerless image forming apparatus where no residual toner is allowed to accumulate in the scraping and equalizing device 46 and thereby no waste toner is produced.

[0057] When the amount of residual toner is large, however, a large amount of toner (negatively charged toner) must be sucked and recovered into the scraping and equalizing device 46. Because the toner releasing action cannot release a large amount of toner, there is a possibility that the amount of toner accumulated in the scraping and equalizing device 46 will increase or the toner will scatter inside the device.

[0058] To overcome this problem, when the space between sheets of recording paper is located at the scraping position of the scraping and equalizing device. 46 (during the non-image formation period), the selector switch 47 is switched to apply a direct-current voltage of -400V (Vu2: forced release voltage) to the scraping and equalizing device 46. The potential at this time and the force acting on the toner are pictorially shown in FIG. 9.

[0059] Specifically, if the surface potential of the photosensitive member 21 after passing under the destaticizing lamp 28 is about -100V, the negatively charged residual toner 24a receives strong electrostatic force at the scraping position of the scraping and equalizing device 46 in the direction in which the toner moves from the scraping and equalizing device 46 to the surface of the photosensitive member, which forces a large amount of negatively charged toner on the scraping and equalizing device 46 to be released into the space between sheets of recording paper on the surface of the photosensitive member 21. The action of forcing toner to be released prevents the residual toner from accumulating on the scraping and equalizing device 46 during the averaged time interval. Then, the released residual toner 24a is charged by the charging device 22 in the same polarity as that of the photosensitive member 21 and thereafter the residual toner 24a in the unexposed portion is recovered by the developing roller 33 of the developing device 25.

[0060] When the amount of residual toner is very small and most of the residual toner is oppositely charged, a sucking voltage Vu1 of -400V is applied and a forced release voltage Vu2 of +400V is applied.

[0061] When the polarity and amount of charges of the toner caught by the scraping and equalizing device 46 vary, depending on the frictional charging, charge injection, and discharging, an alternating-current Vu3 is applied to the scraping and equalizing device 46 during the non-image formation period to cause the scraping and equalizing device 46 to force toner to be released reliably. This forces the toner to be released to the portion of the photosensitive member corresponding to the space between sheets of recording paper. In this case, an alternating-current voltage with a peak difference of 800V (-400V to +400V) and a frequency of 200 Hz is applied.

[0062] As described above, by suitably setting the conditions for a voltage applied to the equalizing device, it is possible to cause the equalizing device to also function as a scraping device. Namely, the scraping and equalizing device 46 can perform not only selective cleaning by which the paper powder, harmful deposits, and photosensitive member surface degraded layer are removed and the residual toner is allowed to pass through but also the refreshing of the photosensitive member surface at a necessary minimum amount of wear of the photosensitive member. Furthermore, the scraping and equalizing device equalizes the residual toner image and prevents waste toner from being produced, which is the necessary function for a cleanerless image forming apparatus. The combination of an equaling device and a scraping device reduces the number of necessary component parts, helping make the apparatus more compact and manufacture the apparatus at lower cost.

[0063] Next, an image forming apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention will be explained.

[0064] As shown in FIG. 10, a contact charging device also serves as an equalizing device and a scraping device. There is provided a scraping, equalizing, and charging device 48 formed of a conductive rotary scraping brush as a contact charging device. An equalizing device and a scraping device are eliminated. A negative voltage Vc1, a positive voltage Vc2, and an alternating-current voltage Vc3 are selectively applied via a selector switch 49 to the scraping, equalizing, and charging device 48. In addition to the conductive rotary scraping brush, a conductive rotary scraping roller, a conductive fixed scraping brush, or a conductive rotary scraping sponge roller may be used as the scraping, equalizing, and charging device 48. The contact conditions and scraping conditions for the scraping, equalizing, and charging device 48 with respect to the photosensitive member 21 are the same as those for the individual scraping devices used in the corresponding embodiments.

[0065] For example, when a negatively charged organic photosensitive member is used as the photosensitive member 21 and negatively charged toner is used as the toner 24, a direct-current voltage (Vc1) of -1000V is applied to the scraping, equalizing, and charging device 48. Under these conditions, when the charging start voltage to the photosensitive member 21 produced by contact charging of the scraping, equalizing, and charging device 48 is -500V, the application of a direct-current voltage of -1000V causes the photosensitive member surface to be charged at -500V. At the same time, the residual toner 24a on the photosensitive member surface is also charged negatively, enabling the developing roller 33 of the developing device 25 to recover the toner.

[0066] The charging of the surface of the photosensitive member 2 and the residual toner 24a is not started simultaneously all over the conductive rotary scraping brush acting as the scraping, equalizing, and charging device 48. The charging is started, depending on the state where the conductive rotary scraping brush is in contact with the photosensitive member 21 (the state of the space between the surface of the conductive rotary scraping brush and the unevenness of the photosensitive member surface). Therefore, some of the residual toner 24a comes into contact with the conductive rotary scraping brush before the charging of the residual toner 24a is started.

[0067] Thus, when the amount of residual toner is very small and the recovery of only the oppositely charged toner (positively charged toner) in the residual toner prevents the generation of a memory phenomenon, the residual toner 24a is sucked and recovered into the scraping, equalizing, and charging device 48, preventing the generation of image defects, such as a memory phenomenon.

[0068] When only a direct-current voltage (Vc1) is applied to the scraping, equalizing, and charging device 48, however, this makes it easy for the toner charged in the opposite polarity to that of the toner stuck and suppressed by the electric field formed by the voltage (Vc1) and the photosensitive member surface to accumulate on the conductive rotary scraping brush that comes into contact with the photosensitive member 21. Therefore, it is necessary to apply a forced release voltage to the scraping, equalizing, and charging device 48 during the non-image formation period.

[0069] Specifically, when a negatively charged organic photosensitive member is used as the photosensitive member 21 and negatively charged toner is used as the toner 24, the selector switch 49 is switched during the non-image formation period to apply a direct-current voltage of +400V (Vc2: forced release voltage) to the scraping, equalizing, and charging device 48.

[0070] When the polarity and amount of charges of the toner caught by the scraping, equalizing, and charging device 48 vary, depending on the frictional charging, charge injection, and discharging, the selector switch 49 is switched during the non-image formation period to apply an alternating-current voltage of -400V to +400V (Vc3) to the scraping, equalizing, and charging device 48.

[0071] As described above, the setting of the conditions for the applied voltage enables the scraping, equalizing, and charging device 48 to equalize the residual toner image and charge the photosensitive member and the residual toner. Accordingly, the scraping, equalizing, and charging device 48 has the selective cleaning function that removes the paper powder, harmful deposits, and photosensitive member surface degraded layer and allows the residual toner to pass through, the function of refreshing the photosensitive member surface at a necessary minimum amount of wear of the photosensitive member, the function of equalizing the residual toner image and preventing waste toner from being produced, and the function of charging the photosensitive member and residual toner. Elimination of a scraping device and an equalizing device this way enables the apparatus to be made more compact and be manufactured at lower cost.

Claims

1. An image forming apparatus characterized by comprising:

an image holding member (21);

charging means (22) designed to charge the surface of said image holding member at a constant potential;

exposing means (23) designed to expose said image holding member (21) charged by said charging means (22) to form an electrostatic latent image;

developing means (25) configured to develop said electrostatic latent image by selectively sticking toner (24) to the surface of said image holding member (21) so as to correspond to the electrostatic latent image formed by said exposing means (23); and

transfer means (27) designed to transfer to a transfer material the toner image formed by said developing means (25) on the surface of said image holding member (21), wherein

said developing means (25) is designed to develop the toner image and simultaneously suck and recover residual toner (24a) remaining on the surface of said image holding member after transfer,

scraping means (41,42,43,44,46,48,50) including a conductive scraping member (41,42,43,44,46,48,50)

characterized in that

the conductive scraping member is in contact with the surface of said image holding member (21) at a specific pressure configured to scrape the surface of said image holding member (21), while allowing said residual toner (24a) to pass between said conductive scraping member (41,42,43,44,46,48,50) and the surface of said image holding member (21),

said scraping means (41,42,43,44,46,48,50) further includes voltage applying means (45,47,49,52) configured to selectively apply, in a non-image formation period, to the conductive scraping member (41,42,43,44,46,48,50) a first DC current (Vf2) of a specific polarity, for forcibly releasing oppositely charged toner accumulated on the conductive scraping member (41,42,43,44,46,48,50) onto the image holding member(21)

or an AC voltage (Vf3) configured to forcibly release charged toner of varying polarity and amount from the conductive scraping member (41,42,43,44,46,48,60) onto the image holding member (21),

and to apply in an image formation period a second DC voltage (Vf1), configured to suppress adhesion of the charged toner to the scraping member, having a polarity opposite to that of the first DC voltage to the conductive scraping member (41,42,43,44,46,48,50), and

the first DC voltage (Vf2), the AC voltage (Vf3) and the second DC voltage (Vf1) are set to form an electric field lower than a discharging start electric field with respect to said image holding member (21).

2. An image forming apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that said conductive scraping member (44, 46, 48) is a conductive brush that is in contact with the surface of said image holding member at a specific pressure.

3. An image forming apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the conductive scraping member comprises a conductive rotary scraping sponge roller (44,46).

Ansprüche

1. Bilderzeugungsvorrichtung umfassend
einen Bildaufnahmekörper (21),
Lademittel (22), die so ausgebildet sind, die Oberfläche des Bildaufnahmekörpers (21) mit einem konstanten Potential zu laden, Belichtungsmittel (23), die ausgebildet sind, den Bildaufnahmekörper (21), der durch die Lademittel (22) geladen ist, zu belichten, um ein latentes elektrostatisches Bild zu erzeugen,
Entwicklungsmittel (25), die ausgebildet sind, das elektrostatische latente Bild durch selektives Anheften von Toner an die Oberfläche des Bildaufnahmekörpers (21) zu entwickeln, um dem elektrostatischen latenten Bild zu entsprechen, welches mittels der Belichtungsmittel (23) gebildet wurde, und
Übertragungsmittel (27), die dazu ausgebildet sind, das Toner-Bild, das von den Entwicklungsmitteln (25) gebildet wurde, auf ein Transfermaterial auf der Oberfläche des Bildaufnahmekörpers (21) zu übertragen, wobei
die Entwicklungsmittel (25) so ausgebildet sind, das Toner-Bild zu entwickeln und gleichzeitig übriggebliebenen Toner (24a) anzusaugen und zurückzugewinnen, der nach der Übertragung noch auf der Oberfläche des Bildaufnahmekörpers (21) vorhanden ist, Schabemittel (41, 42, 43, 44, 46, 48, 50), die einen leitenden Schabkörper (41, 42, 43, 44, 46, 48, 50) beinhalten,
dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass der leitende Schabkörper in Kontakt mit der Oberfläche des Bildaufnahmekörpers (21) bei einem spezifischen Druck steht, der so gewählt ist, um die Oberfläche des Bildaufnahmekörpers (21) so abzuschaben, dass der noch vorhandene Toner (24a) zwischen dem leitenden Schabkörper (41, 42, 43, 44, 46, 48, 50) und der Oberfläche des Bildaufnahmekörpers (21) hindurch kommen kann,
die Schabemittel (41, 42, 43, 44, 46, 48, 50) weiter Spannungsanlegemittel (45, 47, 49, 52) zum selektiven Anlegen eines ersten Gleichstroms (Vf2) einer spezifischen Polarität an den leitenden Schabkörper (41, 42, 43, 44, 46, 48, 50) während einer Periode, in der kein Bild erzeugt wird, umfassen, um zwangsweise umgekehrt geladenen Toner, der sich auf dem leitenden Schabkörper (41, 42, 43, 44, 46, 48, 50) angehäuft hat, auf den Bildaufnahmekörper (21) zu lösen,
oder zum selektiven Anlegen eines Wechselstroms (Vf3), der so gewählt ist, geladenen Toner von variierender Polarität und Menge vom leitenden Schabkörper (41, 42, 43, 44, 46, 48, 50) auf den Bildaufnahmekörper (21) zu lösen,
und zum Anlegen eines zweiten Gleichstroms (Vf1) während einer Periode, in welcher ein Bild erzeugt wird, der so gewählt ist, um die Adhäsion von geladenem Toner am geladenen Schabkörper (41, 42, 43, 44, 46, 48, 50) zu unterdrücken, und
der erste Gleichstrom (Vf2), der Wechselstrom (Vf3) und der zweite Gleichstrom (Vf1) so gewählt werden, dass ein elektrisches Feld erzeugt wird, das geringer als ein elektrisches Abgabe-Startfeld in Bezug auf den Bildaufnahmekörper (21) ist.

2. Bilderzeugungsvorrichtung nach Anspruch 1, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass der leitende Schabkörper (44, 46, 48) eine leitende Bürste ist, die bei einem spezifischen Druck in Kontakt mit der Oberfläche des Bildaufnahmekörpers steht.

3. Bilderzeugungsvorrichtung nach Anspruch 1, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass der leitende Schabkörper einen leitenden, drehenden Schabschwammroller (44, 46) umfasst.

Revendications

1. Appareil de formation d'images caractérisé en ce qu'il comprend :

un élément de support d'image (21) ;

un moyen de chargement (22) conçu pour charger la surface dudit élément de support d'image à un potentiel constant ;

un moyen d'exposition (23) conçu pour exposer ledit élément de support d'image (21) chargé par ledit moyen de chargement (22) pour former une image latente électrostatique ;

un moyen de développement (25) configuré pour développer ladite image latente électrostatique en plaquant du toner (24) de manière sélective sur la surface dudit élément de support d'image (21) de manière à correspondre à l'image latente électrostatique formée par ledit moyen d'exposition (23) ; et

un moyen de transfert (27) conçu pour transférer sur un matériau de transfert l'image de toner formée par ledit moyen de développement (25) sur la surface dudit élément de support d'image (21), où

ledit moyen de développement (25) est conçu pour développer l'image de toner et simultanément aspirer et retirer le toner résiduel (24a) restant sur la surface dudit élément de support d'image après le transfert,

un moyen de grattage (41, 42, 43, 44, 46, 48, 50) comprenant un élément de grattage conducteur (41, 42, 43, 44, 46, 48, 50),

caractérisé en ce que l'élément de grattage conducteur est en contact avec la surface dudit élément de support d'image (21) à une pression spécifique configurée pour gratter la surface dudit élément de support d'image (21) tout en permettant audit toner résiduel (24a) de passer entre ledit élément de grattage conducteur (41, 42, 43, 44, 46, 48, 50) et la surface dudit élément de support d'image (21),

ledit moyen de grattage (41, 42, 43, 44, 46, 48, 50) comprend en outre un moyen d'application de tension (45, 47, 49, 52) configuré pour appliquer de manière sélective, en dehors d'une période de formation d'image, à l'élément de grattage conducteur (41, 42, 43, 44, 46, 48, 50), un premier courant continu (Vf2) d'une polarité spécifique pour retirer, par la force, le toner ayant une charge opposée accumulé sur l'élément de grattage conducteur (41, 42, 43, 44, 46, 48, 50) sur l'élément de support d'image (21),

ou une tension alternative (Vf3) configurée pour retirer, par la force, le toner chargé de polarité et de quantité changeantes de l'élément de grattage conducteur (41, 42, 43, 44, 46, 48, 50) sur l'élément de support d'image (21),

et pour appliquer, au cours d'une période de formation d'image, une seconde tension continue (Vf1), configurée pour supprimer l'adhérence du toner chargé sur l'élément de grattage, ayant une polarité opposée à celle de la première tension continue appliquée à l'élément de grattage conducteur (41, 42, 43, 44, 46, 48, 50), et

la première tension continue (Vf2), la tension alternative (Vf3) et la seconde tension continue (Vf1) sont paramétrées pour former un champ électrique inférieur à un champ électrique de démarrage de décharge relativement audit élément de support d'image (21).

2. Appareil de formation d'images selon la revendication 1, caractérisé en ce que ledit élément de grattage conducteur (44, 46, 48) est une brosse conductrice qui est en contact avec la surface dudit élément de support d'image à une pression spécifique.

3. Appareil de formation d'images selon la revendication 1, caractérisé en ce que ledit élément de grattage conducteur comprend un rouleau spongieux de grattage rotatif conducteur (44, 46).

Drawing